The present invention relates to a control lever for earth moving machine of the type comprising the characteristics set out in the preamble to claim 1.
Many currently used earth moving machines employ, for their actuation, two control levers positioned one to the right and one to the left of the operator.
The control levers are generally constituted by a base that can be fastened to the earth moving machine, whereto is associated a grip having substantially vertical development.
The control lever can be inclined in all directions, and to its motion is associated the actuation of the machine.
Over the years, to the control levers have also been applied additional controls, constituted by pushbuttons, to direct the operation of a plurality of devices with which earth moving machines have been provided.
Said pushbuttons can be activated selectively between two extreme conditions, for the operation or non operation of the device controlled thereby.
Among the pushbuttons one can distinguish those with stable activation, in which a single pressure of the pushbutton determines its condition until the next pressure, and those with transitory activation, in which the operating (and non operating) condition of the device is only maintained while the pushbutton is kept pressed.
Earth moving machines currently available on the market are provided with two control levers, to each of which is associated a plurality of pushbuttons.
Said control levers, however, have a series of drawbacks.
With said control levers, the operation of the machine as a whole becomes very challenging because of the high number of controls the operator must keep under control at the same time.
In particular, it becomes complicated for the operator always to be perfectly aware of which devices are active at any given time, especially if such devices are controlled by pushbuttons with stable activation.
Moreover, an inexperienced operator who, for instance, has used a certain machines only a few times, may have difficulties finding which pushbuttons controls a given device when, for instance, he/she wants to stop its operation.
In this situation the technical task constituting the basis for the present invention is to obtain a control lever for earth moving machines that overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks.
In particular, a technical task of the present invention is to obtain a control lever for earth moving machines that allows for simple and rapid identification of the condition of each pushbutton.
Another technical task of the present invention is to obtain a control lever for earth moving machines that facilitates the actuation of the machine even by inexperienced operators
The specified technical task and the indicated aims are substantially achieved by a control lever for earth moving machines, as described in the accompanying claims.